Humans ; Prune Belly Syndrome

OBJECTIVETo retrospectively study and analyse the immune regulatory effect of Bailing Capsule (BLC, a dry powder preparation of Cordyceps sinensis mycelia) on patients after renal transplantation, its influences on various systems of organism, and to explore its possible acting mechanism.

METHODSIn accordance with the entry criteria, 67 recipients of renal homo-allograft were assigned to two groups. The 42 cases in the control group were treated with mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) plus cyclosporine A (CsA), or tacrolimus (FK506) plus prednisone (Pred); the 25 in the treated group treated with the chemotherapy the same as in the control group plus BLC. They were followed up for 48 weeks by checking up blood routine, urine routine, hepatic and renal function, total serum protein, serum albumin, uric acid, etc., and the dosage of immunoinhibitory used was recorded periodically.

RESULTSComparison showed no significant difference in graft survival rate, occurrence of reject reaction and renal function recovery between the two groups; but levels of urinary erythrocytes and leucocytes, blood alanine transaminase, aspartate amino transferase, uric acid, total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, as well as the incidence of infection were significantly lower, and serum total protein and albumin were significantly higher in the treated group (all P < 0.01); moreover, counts of erythrocyte and leukocyte from 12 to 48 weeks, T-lymphocyte from 4 to 48 weeks after transplantation were significantly higher in the treated group (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01), and the recovery appeared earlier, the dosage of CsA or FK506 used 12 weeks after operation was significantly lower in the treated group than in the control group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSBLC could effectively protect liver and kidney, stimulate hemopoietic function, improve hypoproteinemia, as well as reduce the incidence of infection and the dosage of CsA and FK506 used, etc. Therefore, it is a useful drug for immunoregulation after organ transplantation.

Adult ; Capsules ; Cordyceps ; Cyclosporine ; administration & dosage ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney Transplantation ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tacrolimus ; administration & dosage

OBJECTIVETo observe effect of acupuncture and moxibustion on carotid plaque in the patient of carotid atherosclerosis due to ischemic cerebrovascular disease.

METHODSSixty cases were randomly divided into an acup-mox group and a drug group, 30 cases in each group. Plaque of carotid atherosclerosis and quality of the plaque were investigated by color B-ultrasonography and the thickness and area of the plaque were calculated.

RESULTSThe resolution rate of the plaque was 53.9% in the acup-mox group and 10.0% in the drug group with a significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.01), and with better effects on flat plaque and soft plaque. And the thickness and area of the plaque of corotid atherosclerosis were significantly reduced.

CONCLUSIONAcupuncture and moxibustion can improve the plaque of corotid atherosclerosis, so as to alleviate and prevent from occurrence and development of ischemic cerebrovascular diseases.

Acupuncture ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Carotid Artery Diseases ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Moxibustion

OBJECTIVETo study the efficacy of different preparations of budesonide combined with pulmonary surfactant (PS) in improving blood gas levels and preventing bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in preterm infants with neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (NRDS).

METHODSA total of 184 preterm infants who developed NRDS within 4 hours after birth were randomly administered with PS + continuous inhalation of budesonide aerosol (continuous aerosol group), PS+budesonide solution (solution group), PS + single inhalation of budesonide aerosol (single aerosol group), and PS alone, with 46 neonates in each group. The changes in arterial blood gas levels, rate of invasive mechanical ventilation after treatment, time of assisted ventilation, rate of repeated use of PS, and the incidence of BPD were compared between the four groups.

RESULTSOn the 2nd to 4th day after treatment, pH, PCO2, and oxygenation index (FiO2/PaO2) showed significant differences among the four groups, and the continuous aerosol group showed the most improvements of all indicators, followed by the solution group, single aerosol group, and PS alone group. The continuous aerosol group had a significantly shorter time of assisted ventilation than the other three groups (P<0.05). The solution group had a significantly shorter time of assisted ventilation than the single aerosol and PS alone groups (P<0.05). The rate of invasive mechanical ventilation after treatment, rate of repeated use of PS, and incidence of BPD showed significant differences among the four groups (P<0.05), and the continuous aerosol group had the lowest rates, followed by the solution group.

CONCLUSIONSA combination of PS and continuous inhalation of budesonide aerosol has a better efficacy in the treatment of NRDS than a combination of PS and budesonide solution. The difference in reducing the incidence of BDP between the two administration methods awaits further investigation with a larger sample size.

Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia ; prevention & control ; Budesonide ; administration & dosage ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Pulmonary Surfactants ; administration & dosage ; Respiration, Artificial ; Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Newborn ; drug therapy

OBJECTIVE: To study the clinical features and prognosis of bacterial meningitis in full-term and preterm infants. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of 102 neonates with bacterial meningitis. According to the gestational age, they were divided into a preterm group (n=46) and a full-term group (n=56). The two groups were compared in terms of clinical manifestations, laboratory markers, imaging findings, and clinical outcomes. RESULTS: Poor response and apnea were the major clinical manifestations in the preterm group (P<0.05), while pyrexia and convulsions were more common in the full-term group (P<0.05). The full-term group had a significantly higher glucose level in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) than the preterm group (P<0.05). Compared with the full-term group, the preterm group had significantly higher C-reactive protein level, positive rate of blood culture, and incidence rate of poor prognosis (P<0.05). There were no significant differences between the two groups in leukocyte count in peripheral blood, levels of leukocytes and protein in CSF, and positive rate of CSF culture (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS There are certain differences in the clinical manifestations between full-term and preterm infants with bacterial meningitis. Preterm infants tend to have a higher incidence rate of poor prognosis.
Apnea ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Leukocyte Count ; Meningitis, Bacterial ; Retrospective Studies

Adult ; Humans ; Kidney Neoplasms ; surgery ; Laparoscopy ; methods ; Male ; Nephrectomy ; methods ; Retroperitoneal Space ; surgery

OBJECTIVESome research has shown that androgen has a neuroprotection against hypoxia-ischemia brain damage (HIBD). However, the relevant mechanism has not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to explore the neuroprotection of androgen against HIBD in neonatal rats and the possible mechanism.

METHODSSixty-four seven-day-old Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly assigned into three groups: Sham-operation, HIBD and Androgen. The HIBD model was induced by ligation of the left carotid common artery along with hypoxia exposure in neonatal rats from the latter two groups. The Sham-operation group was not subjected to hypoxia-ischemia (HI). The Androgen intervention group received an injection of testosterone propionate (25 mg/kg) immediately after HIBD. Bcl-2 and Bax protein expressions in the cortex and hippocampal CA region were detected by immunohistochemical method at 6, 24 and 72 hrs and at 7 days after HI. The contents of SOD and MDA in the brain tissue homogenate were measured by the thiobarbituric acid (TBA) method and the xanthine oxidase luminescence method respectively at 6, 24 and 48 hrs after HI.

RESULTSThere were few Bcl-2 and Bax immune positive cells in the cortex or hippocampus in the left hemisphere in the Sham-operation group at 6 hrs after operation. This was significantly different from the HIBD control and Androgen intervention groups (P < 0.01). The expression of Bcl-2 protein in the cortex and hippocampus of the Androgen intervention group was significantly higher than that of the HIBD control group at 6, 24 and 72 hrs after HI (P < 0.05 or 0.01). The expression of Bax protein in the cortex and hippocampus of the Androgen intervention group was significantly lower than that of the HIBD control group at 24 hrs after HI (P < 0.05). The SOD content in the brain tissue homogenate of the HIBD control group was significantly reduced, in contrast, the MDA content in the brain tissue homogenate of the HIBD control group increased significantly at 6 hrs after HI compared with the Sham-operation group (P < 0.05). The SOD content was reduced to a nadir and the MDA content increased to a peak at 24 hrs after HI in the HIBD control group. Androgen intervention increased significantly the SOD activity at 6,24 and 48 hrs after HI and decreased significantly the MDA content at 6 and 24 hrs after HI as compared with the HIBD control group (P < 0.05 or 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSThe neuroprotection of androgen against neonatal HIBD is produced possibly through an increase of Bcl-2 protein expression and a reduction in Bax protein expression, thus decreasing neuronal apoptosis after HI. There may also be a reduction in the consumption of antioxidant and an inhibition of the formation of oxidant free radicals to alleviate neuronal damage following HI.

Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Brain Chemistry ; drug effects ; Female ; Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain ; drug therapy ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; analysis ; Neuroprotective Agents ; therapeutic use ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 ; analysis ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism ; Testosterone Propionate ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; analysis

Objective To construct a human tumor necrosis factor (hTNF-a) plasmid and identify it to optimize the fermentation conditions of hTNF-α protein so as to achieve high expression in Escherichia coli.Methods The gene of hTNF-a was cloned into pET24a vector to obtain the pET24a-hTNF-a expression plasmid that was transformed into Escherichia coli BL21(DE3),and the expression conditions of BL21 (DE3) were optimized.Results The plasmid of pET24a-hTNF-α was successfully constructed and identified by PCR and digestion,which was consistent with the target fragment hTNF-α.The plasmid was transformed into Escherichia coli BL21(DE3),the best induced expression conditions of Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) were as follows:M9+LB medium,37℃,0.5 mmol/L IPTG,pH =7.5,and induction time was 5 h.The results showed that dry weight of the cells and the rate of TNF were increased by 2.56 times and 3.68 times,respectively,and the expression rate of hTNF-α was increased by 3.49 times from 9.38％ to 32.74％.Conclusion The optimal conditions for the expression of plasmid pET24a-hTNF-α in Escherichia coli were determined.

BACKGROUNDWilms' tumor (nephroblastoma) is a cancer of the kidneys that occurs typically in children and rarely in adults. Early diagnosis is very important for the treatment and prognosis of the disease. The aim of our study was to discover and identify potential non-invasive and convenient biomarkers for the diagnosis of Wilms' tumor.

METHODSNude mice were used to construct a Wilms' tumor model by injecting nephroblastoma cells into their bilateral abdomen. We collected 94 serum samples from mice consisting of 45 samples with Wilms' tumor and 49 controls. The serum proteomic profiles of the samples were analyzed via surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The candidate biomarkers were purified by high-performance liquid chromatography, identified by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, and validated using ProteinChip immunoassays.

RESULTSWe finally retrieved two differential proteins (m/z 4509.2; 6207.9), which were identified as apolipoprotein A-II and polyubiquitin, respectively. The expression of apolipoprotein A-II was higher in the Wilms' tumor group than in the control group (P < 0.01). By contrast, the expression of polyubiquitin was lower in the Wilms' tumor group than in the control group.

CONCLUSIONApolipoprotein A-II and polyubiquitin may be used as potential biomarkers for nephroblastoma in children, and the analysis of apolipoprotein A-II may help diagnose and treat Wilms' tumor.

Animals ; Apolipoprotein A-II ; blood ; Biomarkers ; blood ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Mice ; Mice, Nude ; Polyubiquitin ; blood ; Proteomics ; methods ; Wilms Tumor ; blood ; metabolism ; pathology

Chinese scientists have been actively engaged in biotechnology research since the mid-20th century. However, biotechnology education, especially biomedical laboratory technology education, is relatively scarce in China. More and more cutting-edge equipment and techniques have been introduced into biomedical laboratories in China, but there is a lack of high-quality technicians to apply these advancements to scientific research. In addition, the traditional education and apprenticeship systems have been demonstrated little progress. To address this gap, West China Hospital of Sichuan University established a 2-year educational program for laboratory technology in 2006 based on the residency training program. The project integrates scientific methods into the research laboratory technician training in relevant disciplines, and has developed a systematic, scientific, and effective standardized training system to cultivate high-level and stable experimental technician team for the need of advanced laboratories, which has been demonstrated greatly improve the efficiency of biomedical researchers and laboratory facilities. In this article, we introduce the practical experience in establishment and development of a standardized training system for biomedical laboratory technicians to ensure the sustainable development of medical researches.